Co-pilot found guilty in fatal crash that killed wives of two military officers

Posted: Thursday, July 01, 1999

By Elliott MinorAssociated Press

FORT STEWART -- A military judge Wednesday found an Army helicopter pilot guilty of wrongfully appropriating a military aircraft involved in a Bahamas crash that killed his wife and the wife of another pilot.

In addition to the wrongful appropriation charge, the judge found Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Riddell guilty of dereliction of duty and violating a lawful general regulation. He acquitted Riddell of conspiracy in the July 8, 1998 crash of the helicopter he co-piloted.

The judge, Col. Kenneth Pangburn, said Riddell could face a maximum sentence of dismissal from the Army, forfeiture of all pay and benefits and two years imprisonment.

Shortly after Pangburn returned with his verdict, the court-martial went into the sentencing phase, where the defendant presented evidence that could soften his sentence.

Earlier, Riddell testified that he believed mechanical problems -- not pilot error -- caused the crash. He said he remembered rotor noise and shaking just before the crash.

''Something happened in that aircraft,'' he said.

An Army investigation concluded that the crash resulted from pilot error, but Riddell said he believes the investigators were more concerned with punishing him and the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer David Guido, than with looking for the cause.

There had been problems twice before with the flight controls of the UH-80 Blackhawk, but mechanics were unable to find the cause, he said.

Riddell, who said he suffered a traumatic brain injury in the crash and has only a few memories of that day, testified that he remembers seeing his wife's body and thinking she was asleep.

Riddell, Guido and Sgt. William Westgate, the third crewman aboard the helicopter, were based at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah and were in the Bahamas for a drug-interdiction mission at the time of the crash. The Blackhawk went down on Grand Exuma Island, killing Rebecca Riddell and Pam Guido.

On Tuesday, Pangburn agreed to a defense request to drop two of the five charges against Riddell: making a false official statement and conduct unbecoming an officer.

But Pangburn allowed charges of conspiracy and wrongful appropriation of an aircraft to stand and said he would rule later on the fifth charge, dereliction of duty.

Riddell testified that he took his wife on the flight as a reward for all she had put up with during his career.

He disputed the prosecution's contention that the three men were guilty of conspiracy.

''For the Army, the command and the prosecutors to say we were out there screwing around, basically makes me sick,'' he said.

He said he wishes he could remember more about the crash.

''I've tried to piece everything in my mind. You want to know the truth,'' Riddell said. ''I have pieced together every possible scenario, including that I crashed the aircraft. For a while, I even believed it.''

Guido was convicted earlier this month of conspiracy, wrongful appropriation of an aircraft and violation of a lawful general regulation. He was sentenced to a reprimand plus fines and forfeited pay totaling $10,000.

Westgate, an avionics technician, is scheduled to be court martialed July 8. He is charged with conspiracy and willful dereliction of duty.